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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, November 19, 1867

The Commentary.

Tell me the meaning of Scriptures. One gem from that ocean is worth all the pebbles of earthly streams.—M'Cheyne.

Notes on Genesis.

ALL FOR OUR GOOD.

CHAP. xlii, 36. And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away; all these things are against me.

Jacob made this lamentation, when, had he known all, his heart would have exulted with joy.—Me have ye bereaved, &c.] It is probable that concurring circumstances, and their conduct in other respects, made him suspect the truth of their report concerning Joseph.—Scott.

Jacob gives up Joseph for gone, and Simeon and Benjamin as in danger; and concludes, All these things are against me. It proved otherwise, that all these were for him, working together for his good, and the good of his family. Note, through our ignorance, mistake, or weakness of faith, we often apprehend that to be against, which is really for us. We are afflicted in body, estate, name, and relations; and think all these things against us, whereas they are really working for us the weight of glory.—Henry.

PRODUCTS OF EGYPT AND CANAAN.

CHAP. xliii, 11. And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down a present a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds.

Honey.] So most translate, others, date-juice; but neither of these can be meant, as Egypt abounds in the best honey, and is rich in palm dates. The opinion of Shaw is most probable, that the Heb. Debash means a juice, of the consistency of honey, prepared from dried grapes, and called by the Arabs dibs, the same name. This, in our day, is produced only in a tract of land about Hebron, and yearly sent to Egypt, to the amount of 300 camel loads. Kæmpfer describes a similar juice. A great part of the grapes is reduced, by boiling, to a syrup, which upon the tables of the poor supplies the place of butter, and, with abstemious persons, of wine, being mixed with water. Now Egypt had not [generally] the vine, so that this gift would be acceptable. Nuts.] Pistachio nuts: a production of Palestine which grew not in Egypt, and spoken of as peculiar to Syria, by Pliny; “the best in the world,” says Chardin. They are eaten as well dry, with salt, as preserved; and are never wanting at a collation. Canaan also produced the best almonds in the East.—Dr. A. Clarke.

EGYPTIAN SUPERSTITION.

VERSE 32. And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves; for the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

An abomination, &c.] Because, says Onkelos, the cattle, which the Hebrews eat, the Egyptians worship. All Egyptians, says Herodotus, pay a high degree of divine honor to the cow; and hence, will not kiss a Greek on the mouth, nor make use of his knife, spit, or dishes. This is also the case among the Hindoos, who hold the cow sacred. They see with horror Christian Europeans kill and eat the cow; and therefore consider every utensil touched by them, as defiled.

MEANING OF THE WORD EARING.

CHAP. xlv, 6. For these two years hath the famine been in the land; and yet there are five years, in the which there shall be neither earing nor harvest.

Earing.] That is, ploughing, or preparing the ground and sowing it. It appears by this, that the Egyptians, finding Joseph’s predictions exactly accomplished thus far, followed his counsel, and wasted no corn in sowing the land.—Scott. The word means ploughing or seed time; from the Anglo-Saxon erian, probably from the Latin aro, I plough. [whence arable, &c.]—Dr. A. Clarke.

JOSEPH, FATHER TO PHARAOH.

VERSE 8. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God, and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

A father to Pharaoh.] It has already been conjectured that father was the name of an officer in Egypt, and that father of Pharaoh might, among them, signify the same as prime minister, or the king’s minister does among us. Calmet has remarked, that among the Phoenicians, Persians, Arabians, and Romans, the title of father was given to certain officers of state. The Roman emperors gave the name of father, to the prefects of the prætorium, as appears by Constantine’s letter to Ablavius. The caliphs gave the same name to their prime ministers. [The Turkish Sultan usually calls his Grand Vizier by the name of Lala, foster-father.] In Judg. xvii, 10, Micah says to the Levite, Be unto me a father and a priest. And Diod. Sic. remarks, that the teachers and counsellors of the kings of Egypt were chosen from the priesthood.—Dr. A. Clarke.

CHANGES OF RAIMENT.

VERSE 22. To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

Changes of raiment.] Many passages from the works of travelers are adduced to show, that this presenting of garments is still one of the modes of complimenting in the East. Asiatic sovereigns, says Dr. A. Clarke, keep in their wardrobes several hundred changes of raiment, for presents to ambassadors and persons of distinction.—Jenks.

THE WORDS OF JOSEPH.

VERSE 27. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.

This must have been attended by a confession of their own base conduct respecting Joseph; but Jacob had no heart now for reproaches or complaints.—Scott.

JACOB’S LAST SACRIFICE.

CHAP. xlvi, 1. And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

Perhaps Jacob chose Beer-sheba for his solemn sacrifices, because it was the last place in Canaan, which he was now leaving never to see again. Nothing is recorded concerning sacrifices, from this time till Israel’s deliverance from Egypt.—Scott.

JACOB’S DAUGHTERS.

VERSE 7. His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed brought he with him from Egypt.

His daughters, &c.] Jacob had but one daughter; but perhaps his sons’ wives were intended. His son’s daughters are all mentioned; yet only one of them is named; and it does not appear on what account she was distinguished from the rest.—Scott.

In these cases the pl. is for the sing. Comp. v. 28, and the sons of Dan were Hushim, and so in Latin.—Stuart.

JOSEPH’S HISTORY DUPLICATED.

VERSE 29. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

The following remarkable incident is so illustrative of the manners described in Joseph’s story, as to deserve an insertion here. “The plains of Syria,” says Savary, “were ravaged by locusts, and a famine ensued. A farmer near Damascus suffered so severely, as to be obliged to sell all that he had to support his family. In the midst of his distress, bargaining for some corn from Egypt, he heard of the victories of Mourad Bey. The description of the warrior agreed with that of a son stolen from him at twelve years of age. He instantly set out amidst the prayers and tears of his family, for Grand Cairo; arrived there and was introduced. The Bey proved to be his son, who sent him back with large sums of money, and a vessel loaded with corn.” Incidents very similar took place in the life of Ali Bey. See Harmer.